All around Chicago, simple pleasures are waiting to be discovered. But bar popcorn? How plebian, you may think. Fine, maybe bar popcorn isn't the pinnacle of culinary achievement. This drinking staple snack comes in all varieties, both good and bad. Sometimes it's stale, sometimes it's too salty, and sometimes it's self-serve and you see someone fail to wash their hands in the bathroom so you just avoid it altogether. But sometimes it's great, and hot, and it adds to your bar-going experience. We recently decided to try the popcorn at West Town's Lush Wine & Spirits, and it falls into the “spectacular bar snack” camp. more ›

Mollydooker is Australian for "left-hander." However, among oenophiles, the word is more commonly associated with the Australian winery with a fantastic love for all things left-handed and more 99 point Robert Parker-rated wines than any other from the land Down Under. Their wines have sort of a cult following in the US that has materialized to more than 93% of their wine being sold and consumed here. With their wines hovering around the 16-17% alcohol mark, this could say something about the general US wine drinking market. more ›

We were running around on New Year's Eve stocking up on champagne and snacks when we stopped by LUSH Wine & Spirits University Village location (yeah, we know...) looking for something we haven't had before. And we found it, nestled among the trippels, Imperial IPAs, sour ales and other extreme beers. the label read, "brewed with sweet potatoes and black pepper." more ›

Longtime "BotW" readers might remember that we reviewed a barley wine last spring from Louisville's Browning's Brewery. We bought it retail in town but, after making a phone call to the brewmaster in Louisville, didn't disclose where we made the purchase for fear of outing the store in question for selling booze outside the three-tier distribution system. more ›